


It All Changed In A Second

by CaffeineJunkie



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, F/F, Fluff, Sanvers is endgame
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-07
Updated: 2018-04-07
Packaged: 2019-04-19 22:09:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14246760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaffeineJunkie/pseuds/CaffeineJunkie
Summary: Alex leaves Maggie a plush dog to protect her as a joke, she doesn't expect that it'll change everything.OrMaggie secretly loves cuddling and Alex really doesn't mind.Rated mature for language.





	It All Changed In A Second

Maggie didn’t particularly like Alex when she first met her.

It would actually be perfectly reasonable to say that they barely tolerated each other at all in those first few months.

Alex was a know-it-all, unreasonable, stubborn and uptight. Maggie was a sarcastic little shit, irritating, argumentative and obstinate.

Alex liked to stay up until the early hours of the morning and sleep in as late as possible. Maggie was in bed before midnight and up with the first rays of sun.

Maggie would stomp around the room and use up all the water in the coffee machine in a morning. Alex would leave her lights up full and refused to turn her music down in the evenings.

Living together that first few months was almost impossible. As though they’d been given a life sentence for a crime they hadn’t even committed.

And then something changed.

Like the leaves changing from summer to fall it was gradual at first; then all at once completely inexplicably different in a way that neither could quite pin point down to an exact moment.

Maybe it was because Maggie realized that Alex was actually brilliant; she was logical and determined and cared so fucking much in the best ways possible. Maybe it was because Alex saw that Maggie was genuinely sweet; she was a natural flirt and passionate and just as determined as she was.

Maybe it was because Alex would dim the lights low so not to disrupt Maggie and had had words with their neighbors about the noise levels at night. Maybe it was because Maggie had started making sure that coffee would be just ready for Alex waking up and would always make sure to tip toe as quietly as possible so not to disturb her sleeping roommate in the early hours.

Maybe it was because slowly but surely they both lowered their walls ever so slightly to let the other in just a tiny bit at a time. Maybe somewhere between the coffee runs and the tense last minute studying, the broken hearts and the angry home phone calls the two girls had become best friends.

Maggie was lounging on the sofa in their living room when she felt the solid body of Alex flop on top of her, head coming to rest in her lap as she let out a pitiful whine. “I don’t wanna go” her nose scrunched as she turned her face to look up at Maggie, “If you were a good friend you’d make me stay here!”. Maggie laughed, before threading her fingers into the short red hair splayed out over her legs.

“Sorry Danvers, I hate to break it to you, but, I’m not a good friend. I’m a fucking amazing friend which is why I’m telling you that you have to go. I mean, you can’t disappoint Kara by not showing you’ve not seen her for months” Alex pouted and Maggie tugged her hair a little earning her a glare. “Stop pouting, you’re not five”

“You’re mean, how could you? I’m hurt that you don’t love me enough to save me from this! It’s like you aren’t going to miss me at all!” Annnddd there go the puppy dog eyes. Maggie snorted, the thought that she wasn’t going to miss Alex was ridiculous, not that she was about to let Alex know that.

“Pfft, getting the entire apartment to myself? Stocking the freezer with vegan Ice cream? Free reign of Netflix? Nah, pretty sure I won’t miss you Danvers”

Alex clutched at her chest as if she had just been shot, “You wound me Sawyer! I can’t believe you’d prioritize vegan ice-cream over me, that stuff is gross. Anyway” Alex’s note changed as she smirked up at the smaller girl, “I can’t leave you! I mean, you’re tiny, who’s gonna protect you from all the big bad monsters if I’m not here?”

Maggie’s eyes narrowed and her fingers stilled in Alex’s hair. “Take that back, Danvers”

“Take what back?” her tone of innocence was undermined by the pure look of smugness that was spread across her face.

“The bit where you said I was tiny and that I need protecting”

“Never!”

“Alex!”

“Yes, Maggie?”

It took all of three seconds for Maggie to maneuver herself so that her fingers were poking into the side of her best friend mercilessly forcing the squeal of “Maggie Stop” from Alex’s lips.

“Take it back Danvers!” Maggie grinned, trying – and failing – to keep her tone threatening.

“Never! It’s the truth! Freedom of the press!” Maggie’s head tilted to the side, her eye brows raising in disbelief as she laughed freely now, her hands halting their assault on Alex’s sides.

“Freedom on the press? You’re such a dork, Danvers” She chuckled as she carefully nudged her friend from her lap shaking her head. “On that note” Slipping out of the living area she emerged only moments later with a gym bag slung over her shoulder, “Wish I could stay to say goodbye properly, but I promised Olsen I’d go over some moves with him and I’m already late. I mean, I need all the gym time I can get since I’m so tiny and there is going to be no one here to protect me” Alex wrinkled her nose and pouted again ever so slightly as she stood, wrapping her arms around her roommate tightly.

“You suck, Sawyer”  
“Love you too, Danvers”

 

* * *

 

Entering the flat a few hours later Maggie was hit with how empty the place felt. It wasn’t like she hadn’t been in there on her own before but knowing that Alex wasn’t coming home any time soon made her feel almost lonely somehow. Maggie shook her head; she was being silly. It was only a week! Throwing her keys into the dish by the door and tugging the gym bag from her shoulder a small soft plush dog caught her eye perched atop the kitchen counter.

Maggie had never been a cuddly toy sort of girl. When she had been a baby her thumb had been a thing of comfort to her over any kind of blanket or plush, as she got bigger her preference had been for imaginative play and sports over actual toys and she’d always scoffed at the silly bears holding hearts her girlfriends over the years had bought her. This should be no different. In fact, this should instil more of that sense of distain as she wasn’t even screwing Alex, yet instead she felt a warm soft feeling starting from the pit of her belly and creeping its way up into her chest.

Tearing her eyes away from the dog she lifted the card perched next to it as she read the scrawl that had become so familiar over the past few years.

 

_Maggie,_

_This little pup is Gertrude; she’ll protect you from all the big bad monsters whilst I am away. Try not to miss me too much!_

_Alex x_

 

She couldn’t have fought the smile if she’d tried as she lifted Gertrude into her arms, holding it close as she pulled out her phone and snapped a quick selfie to send to Alex accompanied by just one word: “Dork x”

It was meant as a joke, Maggie knew that, yet over the evening she found herself gravitating towards the dog. Running her fingers over the soft material, moving her from one spot to another, even just picking the toy up, studying it for a moment and popping it back down in it’s place. A small voice in the back of her mind taunted her with truths that she preferred to bury deep down inside about why she had formed such an attachment to the plaything.

Running her hands through her hair, she let out a frustrated noise sinking into the sofa and throwing the toy onto the chair to her side. Alex was her friend. Her best friend, the person who knew all of her flaws and secrets and loved her anyway. She couldn’t go and fuck all that up with feelings; Alex was too important. That was it. The dog was going back in Alex’s room where it belonged. She wasn’t going to keep up this stupid game playing with a child’s toy all night.

Grabbing Gertrude she stalked into Alex’s room and dropped her unceremoniously onto the neatly made bed. She was done, she wouldn’t think about the toy even once more before Alex came home. Nope. Not. Even. One. Tiny. Thought. Completely, one hundred percent done.

Slipping into her covers that night, the soft toy gripped lightly between her fingers, Gertrude’s fluff filled head pressed softly against Maggie’s nose, she let a small smile play on her lips. There was no harm in one night with the plush, right? It wasn’t like anyone would ever find out about it and Alex had left it for her, it would be rude to just disregard it like it was nothing. The small voice from earlier tried to argue with her reasoning but Maggie blocked it out as she drifted into sleep.

Suffice to say, the toy found its way into her bed every night from that point on.

 

* * *

 

When Alex walked through the door to their apartment two days earlier than planned the last thing she ever expected to see was Maggie curled up on the sofa under the blanket that Alex usually stole and clutching the silly plush toy she’d left as a joke for her room mate. Dropping her bag at the front door - she could unpack in the morning – a soft smile wormed its way onto her face.

She knew Maggie wasn’t one for soft toys but she has found the puppy in the back of her closet and couldn’t resist the joke. She’d won it on a shooting game the last time the fair had come to town, she hadn’t been particularly bothered about winning the toy but she had wanted to wipe the taunting grin of the the slimy bastards face who had said shooting ‘wasn’t for girls’ and that he was ‘more than willing to help’ her.

Looking at Maggie now, face all soft, curled up and looking tinier than ever without her fiery personality adding a good few inches to her height, Alex couldn’t stop the swoop of her stomach and she tried hard not to think about what that meant. It wasn’t the first time she’d felt like this around Maggie, in fact, if she was being completely honest with herself, this swooping and fluttering in her stomach was becoming increasingly familiar around her best friend as of late.

Alex wasn’t naïve, she knew that her feelings for Maggie were becoming less and less platonic with every passing day and that was a problem. She might not have been hiding in the closet anymore, not like she had been with all of the hormones and feeling that had been going off around Vicky, but that didn’t make the situation any less problematic. Why couldn’t she have fallen for the pretty brunette in her chem class? Why Maggie? Why her best friend?

She sighed softly, kneeling next to the sofa and letting her fingers gently push back some of the long hair that had fallen in front of Maggie’s face. “Maggie” She whispered lowly, gently shaking the girl so not to spook her. Maggie stirred a little, tugging the toy closer to her chest for a moment before blinking up at what – or who – had disturbed her.

“You a monster?” she asked heavily, her voice thick with sleep as a small drowsy smirk played at the corners of her mouth.  
“Not a monster Mags, how could I be with your guard dog keeping out watch for them?” She teased watching as the realization dawned on her roommate as the toy slipped from her grasp almost instantly and a deep red flush worked its way up to her cheeks. The blanket was pulled over her head to hide her face almost instantly and she let out the smallest embarrassed squeak Alex had ever heard.

Alex chuckled before tugging at the blanket, “I pinky promise I won’t tell anyone Mags, but seriously, come on its late and you’ll be sore tomorrow if you sleep here” She watched as Maggie threw back the blanket and her legs wiggled free form their confinement. She was still sleepy, her mind working slower than it usually would as she cocked her head to the side in confusion.

“You’re home early” she mumbled as she stood, wrapping her arms around the taller girl and her head resting in the crook of her neck. Maggie could feel her eyes slipping shut again as she tried to fight against the pull lulling her back into her dreams. She always got cuddly when she was sleepy, more so the more tired she was. There was no way she’d have been as forthright with her affection if she was more awake.

Alex slipped her fingers into Maggies hair, scratching lightly against her scalp like Maggie liked before giving a soft tug, “You better not be falling asleep on me Sawyer” she chucked as a small whine was emitted from the lethargic mess that was currently pressed up against her.

The next thing Maggie was aware of was the way that Alex was tucking her into her bed, so gentle. “You need me to get Gertrude?” she asked softly, unable to keep all of the teasing from her voice. The shorter girl shook her head and, before Alex could leave the room, closed her fingers around the red heads wrist.

“Don’t want Gertie, want you” Her voice was still thick and mumbled through drowsy lips but the tremble of nerves behind her words was still there. “I just, I missed you Danvers” Alex couldn’t help the smile as she nodded her head, stripping down to just her t-shirt and underwear, before slipping into the covers next to Maggie.

“Going soft on me Sawyer?”

“Never Danvers” She whispered back before curing up close to Alex and drifting off to sleep.

Alex felt the soft fluttering in her stomach again as she held Maggie closer, her lips grazing the top of her head before she too slipped into the best nights sleep she’d had all week.

 

* * *

 

Maggie shifted, the light pouring in through the window assaulting her eyes through her eyelids as she burrowed her head further into the warm, mass next to her, her fingers clutching tighter to the soft toy as she fought to hold onto the fleeting remains of sleep. The apartment was usually cold at this time in the morning but today she felt cozy in a way she never did first thing; especially when she slept in nothing more than her thin tank top and light cotton shorts.

Her brow furrowed and she shifted again, her brain still half stuck in her dreams until she felt someone shift back against her. The realization hit her like a train as she flexed her fingers slightly against the material in her hand, it was definitely not Gertrude in fact, it was feeling increasingly more like a t-shirt the longer she pondered it. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck! Her cheeks flushed instantly as last night’s memories flooded back to her.

She got so needy when she was sleepy, she had been like that since she was a baby and it was trait she had never managed to grow out of. Why? Why did she have to turn into someone that just wanted to cuddle up every time she got drowsy? Why couldn’t she have been a snorer or a drooler or a sleepwalker even?

So far she’d done a pretty good job of hiding this side of her, it had always made her feel small and vulnerable and she hated giving people the power to see that. Hated how easy it was to read every little emotion on her face as the built up walls from the day crumbled like a sandcastle in the sea.

Alex was never going to let her live it down. Alex. Maggie’s eyes flickered open, wide and panicked, what if she’d make Alex feel uncomfortable. God, was it going to be awkward now? Had she figured out that Maggie liked her a little more than she should? Fuck. Alex was going to hate her; she was going to …

“Stop wriggling so much” A groggy voice interrupted her mental panic as the arm carelessly thrown over her hip pulled her in tighter and she felt a soft sigh ghost against her forehead. Maggie stilled a little as she felt the bare skin of Alex’s thigh against hers, waiting for Alex to freak out, waiting for the fog of sleep to clear enough to realize just how close Maggie had pressed herself up to her last night, how tightly she had held her. Fuck. She was fucked.

A soft groan slipped from Alex’s throat as she seemingly gave up on sleep, “What happened to cuddly cute Sawyer from last night” she murmured, shifting away from Maggie slightly to stretch out her body before relaxing back into the pillows “I miss her, she didn’t wake me up at the asscrack of dawn” turning to face Maggie, eyes soft, she tried to scowl yet failing miserably and instead looking adorable.

Relief flooded Maggie as the quip rolled off of Alex’s tongue, she wasn’t mad, she wasn’t angry, it wasn’t awkward. Throwing her a smile instead Maggie stretched, “It’s like eight-thirty, hardly the ‘asscrack of dawn’ Danvers.” A hot flush swept up her body as her leg brushed up against Alex again, the earlier panic having subsided her brain seemed to have caught up to the fact that Alex Danvers was practically half naked snuggling in her bed.

Her mouth was suddenly dry, somewhere in the back of her mind she recognized that Alex was talking to her but her brain was preoccupied with creating elaborate fantasies of how the morning could have gone and, try as she might, she couldn’t seem to stop it. Her own mind was a fucking traitor! For the second time that morning Alex jolted her from her thoughts, this time with a quip about being woken up and then not even listening to her.

The pink stain reached the tips of her ears as she hopped out of the bed as fast as she could. “I need coffee” she announced, from the look on Alex’s face, an eyebrow quirked, she must have looked like a deer in headlights as she hightailed out of the room. She was too gay for this. It was one thing having a crush on your straight best friend, it was another having a crush on your best friend who was also in fact gay but completely and one hundred percent out of your league.

Her fingers brushed through her hair as she started up the coffee machine. The brisk air of the apartment doing wonders to cool the flush of her skin but did little to erase the humiliation she was feeling. Maggie let her head drop into her hands as she began mentally compiling a list of stupid embarrassing things Alex had been witness to over the past 10 hours or so.

One. She’d been caught snuggling up with the stupid soft toy that had been left purely as a joke. Two. She had been sleeping under the blanket Alex usually picked rather than the one she preferred – side note, she wasn’t entirely sure Alex had actually noticed this. Three. What Alex definitely had noticed was the way that she had flung her arms around her and nuzzled – actually fucking nuzzled – into her neck. Four. She’d actually said the words, ‘I want you’. Five. Because one point was not enough to convey the stupidity of point four. Six. She’d snuggled up to Danvers. Like actually desperately invaded her space and pressed her body up close to her snuggled. Seven. She’ pulled her even closer this morning because apparently being flush up against her wasn’t close enough. Eight. She’d had entirely not innocent thoughts about her this morning. Nine. She was almost positive Alex had noticed.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. If for some miraculous reason Alex hadn’t caught on to the fact that she had a crush the size of Canada on her she was pretty sure that Lucy would as soon as Alex regaled the details over drinks. Then she might as well pack her bags and move to Switzerland because if Lane found out then there was no way she wouldn’t vocally announce it, publicly, because Lane was a dick. The small voice at the back of her mind was back as it presented her with the fact that Lucy was actually one of her closest friends and not a dick but Maggie simply scowled at the pancake batter she found herself mixing. It was definitely easier to label Lane as a dick than herself as a massive coward.

“What did the pancakes do to you? Do I need to beat them up for you?” Alex jibed, stalking over to the counter and leaning over it with a grin “Do I need to set Gertrude on them?” Maggie forced out a chuckle shaking her head, the flush from earlier creeping back again at the mention of the plush toy.

“Syrup or peanut butter and banana?” She asked, avoiding the question as she staked several perfectly fluffy vegan pancakes onto a plate refusing to meet Alex’s eyes.

“peanut butter and banana, please” the smile had noticeably slipped from her voice as Maggie chanced a glance up at her best friend. She looked nervous, worried even. “Mags, are you okay?” She asked, worrying her lip between her teeth.

“I’m fine Danvers”, she turned away quickly to hide the emotions she was so sure were playing over he face clear as day for anyone to see.

“Don’t lie to me Maggie, you’re clearly not okay. Is this about last night? Was that not okay?” She sounded so unsure, so small.

Maggie shook her head turning back to Alex, “Alex it’s not, I mean …” Maggie broke off, flicking the hob off and moving the pan away from the heat, “I promise you didn’t do anything wrong”

“But something’s wrong” Alex moved away from the counter towards the sofa as dropped into the seat, Maggie following close behind.

“I just …” She broke off again, rubbing her hand over her face before spotting the plush toy that had started all of this resting against the cushion next to her. She took a deep breath, lifting the toy into her lap and finally looked up at Alex. “I’m kind of … I’m embarrassed. And a bit, not scared, that’s not the right word but like … I just feel like …”

Maggie broke off again, dropping her eyes to the little dog. Her fingers traced over the ears softly, why was this so fucking hard? Why was she fucking things up so much? If she’d just acted normal this morning, if she hadn’t freak out they’d be acting like last night never really happened. Like it was just something friends do. Not here feeling like the best friendship she’d ever had was slipping through her fingers faster than water.

“Well, here’s the thing, I uhh, I care about you Danvers” she blurted, “And I’m afraid that I could lose you, that I’m going to fuck up and you’re just going to walk away, because, why wouldn’t you? And then last night, I mean, you caught me sleeping with the fucking toy you left as a joke, and then I practically beg you to stay with me.” She sucked her lip into her mouth for a moment, forcing herself to look back at Alex, “And then this morning too, I mean I’m pretty sure I’ve been too blatant about my feelings for you to have not worked out how much I care about you.”

Alex was silent for a moment, mouth slightly open and eyes searching as if waiting for someone to laugh and scream ‘Punkd’, then her fingers stirred, moving softly to push back the curtain of hair that had fallen in front of Maggie’s face like a shield. “You’re so stupid” she breathed, dropping her hands to Maggie’s shirt and pulling her closer by the fabric, lips almost touching in a silent question. Maggie closed the gap in answer. The first brush of her lips had her heart feeling like it had simultaneously sped up 10 fold and stopped dead.

She can taste the grapefruit chap stick and the slight minty taste of toothpaste. Part of her mind tries to figure out when Alex had time to brush her teeth and put on chap stick, the other part of her mind is yelling that that doesn’t matter because Alex fucking Danvers is kissing her. She feels wired, like a thousand volts of electricity have been channeled through her veins and then Alex is twisting her head, fingers digging lightly at her hips and Maggie’s mouth opens slightly in a soft gasp. The red head takes advantage of the moment, sliding her tongue against Maggie’s lower lip and Maggie’s mind blanks as she meets it with her own.

She’s unable to stop the soft moan that tumbles from her lips unfiltered and she feels rather than sees the smirk plastered on Alex’s face telling her that she heard it. She pulls away ever so slightly, drawing much needed air into her burning lungs, eyes still closed as she rests her forehead against the taller girls. “Fuck, I would have given you Gertrude months ago if I’d realized that that was all it would take to get you to kiss me” Maggie slapped her arm playfully, unable to keep the grin off of her face as she dropped her head into the crook of Alex’s neck to hide it from view.

 

* * *

 

 

Lucy was pissed. She had been sitting in the coffee shop just off campus for 45 minutes and neither Alex or Maggie had shown up and they were blatantly ignoring the barrage of messages she’d sent both of them. It was for this reason that had power walked her way to Alex and Maggie’s building, taken the stairs two at a time and had flung open the apartment door – Maggie sincerely regretted giving her the spare key now – with such a force that the door bounced against the back wall.

The anger flipped to confusion then back to irritation as her eyes dropped to the sofa. In particularly to the way that just-best-friends-definitely-nothing-more-so-stop-fucking-asking Alex and Maggie were pulling away sharply from what had definitely been a fierce battle of tongues with guilty looks splashed all over their faces as if it would hide the way Alex, straddled by Maggie, had her hands - entirely inappropriately for just friends – somewhere up Maggie’s tank top.

“What the fuck? I don’t know if I am more offended that you stood me up or that I wasn’t made aware that Sanvers was now a thing!”

**Author's Note:**

> As usual, this is unedited silly fluff that is probably garbage but there we go. I've tried to use American terms to keep with the setting but I am from England so sorry if any English prhases/words accidentally snuck in there! 
> 
> Hope you guys like it! Let me know what you think :)


End file.
